China's made a dream international debut yesterday when he swept all three gold medals in the men's 62kg category at the world weightlifting championships.

Despite having never competed in an international event, the world No 1 lifted confidently, soaking up the pressure of a close contest to win the snatch (142kg) and the clean and jerk (173kg) to take the overall gold medal with a total of 315kg.

North Korea's Im Yong-su matched Yang's lifts but, being the heavier of the two lifters by a mere 140 grams, had to settle for three silver medals.

Bulgaria's Ivaylo Filev picked up three bronzes with 138kg in the snatch and 163 in the clean and jerk for a total of 301kg.
 
Nineteen-year-old Yang had no problems with motivation, making his biggest lifts with relative ease and letting out an ecstatic roar with both fists clenched.

"I'm very happy to win this. It's my first world championships but the pressure didn't affect me," he told reporters.

"The only pressure I have is that which I put on myself to achieve my goals. I didn't feel that excited because I didn't achieve my overall goal, and that was to reach 320kg."

Yang's triple gold sweep was the second for China in three days of competition after Chen Xiexia won all the golds in the women's 48kg.

China tops the medals table with 10 golds from 12 events.

Veteran Zhang Guozheng of China produced a riveting display of lifting as he won his fist gold medal in three years at the championships yesterday.

The 33-year-old Zhang combined lifts of 155kg in the snatch with 192kg in the clean and jerk to finish with 347kg in the men's 69kg division, which almost equaled his winning total of 347.5kg at the Athens Olympics.

"I lost 7kg (to match up with the competing regulation) since I arrived here. I think I did a good job today," Zhang told the press.

"I believe I still have room to improve my performance and I can achieve my best result in the Olympics in Beijing. I am quite confident," he added.

Zhang had been absent from the worlds since he took the gold medal in the Olympics in Athens.

His compatriot Shi Zhiyong, 27, settled with silver at 338kg and Demir Demirev of Bulgaria, bronze medalist in last year's worlds, lifted a total of 334kg to take the bronze.

"Losing 7kg was too hard for me. I ate almost nothing these days and it was just like I was dying," Zhang said.

Shi, winner at the Athens Olympics in the men's 62kg class, took the lead in the snatch as he lifted 158kg, 3kg more than Zhang. However, he failed in his last two attempts to maintain the advantage.

Zhang continued his reign in his last attempt when he jerked 192kg to claim victory.

"I lifted badly in the jerk and that's why I only lifted 338kg in total today," Shi said.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2007)